A pint, a packet, and the elephant in the room
Mental health still slips through the cracks of Britain’s pub chatter, and a new Beavertown Brewery survey proves it: 56 percent of UK adults admit they’ve faked being “okay” rather than confess their worries.
Enter “Open Up,” a limited-edition bag of Cheddar & Jalapeño crisps whose real flavour is conversation. Partnering with suicide-prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Beavertown has printed big-hearted prompts inside every packet to jolt quiet mates into real talk.
How a bar snack became a lifeline. Flip the foil and you’ll find questions such as “What gets you through tough times?” and “If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?”—little verbal crowbars designed by CALM to prise open bottled-up feelings.
The nudge matters: 46 percent of 18- to 44-year-olds admit they simply don’t know how to start a serious chat with friends.
Tom Davis adds the punchline—and the purpose
English actor-comedian Tom Davis—who’s spoken publicly about his own struggles—backs the campaign, saying pubs should be “natural invitations to start sharing feelings in a laid-back environment.” He knows laughter can break tension, but a shared snack can break silence.
Why pubs make perfect safe spaces
Almost three in ten people feel awkward airing personal problems, and 42 percent say they’d only open up if someone else went first. That “someone else” could now be a bag of crisps.
More than 260 Young’s pubs and independent venues across the UK will hand out the packets free through April, giving patrons permission—and a prompt—to check in on each other.
Voices behind the venture
Beavertown Marketing Director Tom Rainsford calls pubs “places where we gather to talk about everything and nothing—yet many still struggle to say how they really feel.”
The new crisps, he says, “bridge that gap.” CALM CEO Simon Gunning adds that feeling connected often starts with “simple gestures, like sharing crisps,” turning small bites into big conversations.
A campaign that pairs with anything on tap
The vegan Cheddar & Jalapeño crisps match Beavertown’s own brews—from Neck Oil Session IPA to the alcohol-free Lazer Crush—so no one’s left out of the moment. It’s all part of a wider Beavertown-CALM partnership that reminds patrons “We Are Not Alone.”
Where to crunch and converse
Looking to taste test both flavour and fellowship? Find participating pubs and full T&Cs on Beavertown’s website.
Then grab a pint, tear open a packet, and let the questions do the hard work—because saving a life might start with simply asking one.
